Please help support the Howard family in giving Erin the best chance of remission & making as many special memories as they can together.
Macraes, Otago
On her 43rd birthday, Erin received shocking news that a recent lump removed from her hip was malignant melanoma & a terrible migraine, the result of the cancer spreading into 12 brain tumors, & elsewhere to her lungs & back.
She can no longer drive, or work. Surgery is not an option. Her current chemo drugs (dabrafenib & trametinib) have a 90% chance of shrinking her tumors but they are only expected to work for 3 months. They are not publicly funded & will cost at least $80,000. They will eventually stop working & the cancer will advance, so they hope to change to immunotherapy treatment (ipilimumab and nivolumab) to give her the best chance of survival. Should she respond (fingers crossed), the cost of this will be much more.
Tragedy has hit Erin before with her father, Constable Peter Umbers killed in the line of duty in the Maniototo in 1990, leaving her mother to raise her 2 daughters as a single parent. Watching her children adjust to her diagnosis, having had her own experience of dealing with the sudden loss of her father, is extremely difficult for Erin. Her focus is now on extending her precious time with her family, & creating a legacy by realising her dream of planting her own propagated native trees, on their farm for all to enjoy.
The offer of support received really does mean the world to Erin and her family. “My goal is to stay with them as long as possible & to become one of those people who were diagnosed and never quite died.”
Close friend.
The money will be spent on assisting with treatment costs (ipilimumab and nivolumab), allowing Erin to spend some special moments with her family and easing just some of the financial burdens such a tragic time can bring to a family.
Update from Erin 28th Oct 28 October 2024
Thank you so much for the kind words, donations and support. Craig and I were both brought up by our families to give and help more than you take. We have always enjoyed volunteering and helping in our community. It's a massive adjustment to our psyche to actually need this help ourselves now, and receiving it has often made me become teary eyed with the genuine kindness people have displayed. It's my goal now, to receive this kindness without feeling sadness and accept I would only do the same for anyone else. I really appreciate it. I will challenge myself whenever I waiver from this goal and feel sad.💖💖 Erin
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